UBS Rewards Veteran Financial Advisors

UBS unveiled a new compensation plan for veteran brokers in the Americas. Robert McCann, head of the Swiss bank's wealth management business in the region, said the approach is aimed a long-time financial advisors who generate at least $500,000 in revenue a year. The Financial Times estimates that would be about 40 percent of the 7,000 FAs in the region.

The plan includes a cash bonus delivered via a seven-year forgivable loan equal to 65 percent of 2010's production, the FT says. So, a broker generating $1 million in 2010 would receive a $650,000 loan in 2011.

Speaking to UBS's top 300 U.S. advisors, McCann said the plan is meant to reward those who've stuck with the bank through its recent trials, which came at a time of upheaval in the wealth management space as Bank of America has worked to absorb Merrill Lynch's vaunted brokerage force, Citigroup and Smith Barney formed a joint venture in the space, and Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia and its financial advisor network.

Separately, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney snagged a team of FAs from UBS in Houston, The Wall Street Journal reports. Michael Gapinski and Tom Huggins had $1.6 million in annual production at UBS, and managed over $200 million in client assets.